She can still remember the day that Elena ended up on the outskirts of Murmuring Rivers. It had been the same day that Lilli learned what an orphan was. Aletta’s stride had been full of purpose and yet there was still patience there, just slow enough to allow her long-legged daughter to find her stride. The version Lilli had been given had been toned down. She knew nothing of Beylani’s illness or the tragic circumstances of Benjamin’s demise. All they had told her was that the little golden child had no parents. And to Lilli who only had a mother, it had seemed the saddest fate in the world. She can remember thinking that when she finally met the sunshine child, she would offer to share Aletta with her.
Little girls cannot be without a mother.
If only it had been that simple.
When they had finally brought Elena into Murmuring Rivers with steady Marcelo leading the way, Lilli had stood back, peering at the palomino from beside her roaning older brother. She had expected someone so small and after everything she had been through, Lilli had thought to offer her comfort and friendship, shelter from the storm that had been raging. Instead, Elena had been so proud, a defiant tilt to her chin, in her bearing as if she was daring the fates to take something else from her. Lilli had been awed by her. She can remember her standing so still, her little form refusing to shake or give way to everything she had experienced – from the loss of her parents to the journey alone to Beyond. It was so much for one so small to endure and yet Elena had done it.
It had been the start of a relationship where Elena would persevere and Lilli would be inspired, taking courage from her cousin and trying to find her own brave way in the world.
Their relationship hadn’t been instantaneous, much to Lilli’s dismay. Elena had walls and barriers, as any one naturally would in the face of loss, that Lilli didn’t understand. It had taken what had felt like eons before Elena finally smiled at Lilli, finally acquiesced to a game of hide and seek and when she finally started offering her own secrets in response to Lilli’s own. It had been a shy, almost tentative bond at the start and as the months and years went by, as the experiences that would either define or break them happened, the bond became as unbreakable as steel, forged in the flame of time. When Frostbane had come to claim Elaina, Lilli was able to find her courage because her golden cousin was with her. When a new home would come and go, Lilli could adapt because Elena was always beside her. No matter how tumultuous the world might become, it was bearable because Elena was always there, always there with a ready grin and that daring spark in those amber eyes, ready to revive Lilli from whatever ills might have plagued her.
Lilli’s world was a much better place because Elena was in it.
Perhaps that has been the source of her problems now. So much has changed and Elena’s blazing courage, whatever little Lilli had kept with her, was almost ready to be extinguished. She is tired and alone, hurting and grieving and still dealing with all the emotions that come in the aftermath of situations that no one can find a reason for. Even though Lilli has been forging new relationships, trying to move forward and find a place for herself in Beqanna’s extensive lands, she has been learning that the past travels with you whether you exist in Culloden or the Falls or common lands here. She has been carrying this guilt, this grief and it has refused to lessen its grip on her no matter how hard she fights against it. The burden of it has been a heavy, exhausting burden and there has been no supporting shoulder for Lilli to lean on. There has been no flame to light her way.
It is the longing for her family that has driven her to Hyaline. She has it heard it rumored that Pangea is part of the old lands, an old haunt of that fearsome god Carnage. That alone should scare her enough to avoid it but Lilli finds a shred a hope, a small ribbon of it still dancing within her crimson chest that thinks if she can find a part of the Dale, of any of the places that her ancestors had called home, then she can find some kind of acceptance of everything that has happened. It’s an absurd and fantastical thing for her to cling to but cling to it she does.
In the emptiness of the night, Pangea and her new moon only prey on Lilli’s fears. The fear of the dark is something she has never outgrown, Frostbane and Underworld and all the other evils she has been afraid lurk in the shadows. Alone in these woods, the threat becomes as real to her as the day that they had found Frostbane smirking in the river, of Underworld creeping in the depth of shadows. And whats worse is that she doesn’t know Hyaline’s woods, isn’t familiar with any part of this land. It only emphasizes the panic and leaves her blind in the dark, fills her with the wild frenzy of fear.
In the recesses of her mind, on the edges where rational thinking and logic are so hard to find, she thinks that the scent of Elena is impossible. There is no way that her beloved cousin could be here. It’s a coping mechanism, that flight part of her wanting something so desperately that she can conjure the image of Elena and call her here. But somehow the apparition speaks and she is warm, solid beneath Lilli’s wanting touch. ”Elena," she says again though the words are strangled, are full of disbelief and longing and ache. She has missed the shock on Elena’s lovely face because her face is so quickly buried into her cousin's golden neck. It is solid and whole, as real as the night is terrifying to Lilliana. ”How are you real?” she whispers.
The warmth of Elena hits her like a summer storm. She is oh so wonderfully real beneath her touch. Lilli can feel the beating of her heart, can feel her chest rise and fall with the same frantic pace as her own. She doesn’t want to pull away from her cousin. There is a part of her that could stay there forever, feeling safe and complete for the first time in months. When she does find the strength to pull away and look at her cousin, shock and joy are mingled on every corner of Lilli’s face. Blue eyes find amber in the dark, finding wonder even in the cover of night. The questions build in her chest, build up with like a bubbling brook. ”What are you doing here?” she asks and almost immediately, Lilli wants to pull her cousin to her again. ”What are you doing in Pangea?” The thought seems ludicrous that all the places she would see Elena again would be here. And despite the night and its terrors, despite everything that Lilli has struggled against, the crimson girl smiles. ”It is so good to see you.” She tries to appraise Elena, her blue eyes seeking out Elena’s eagerly under the void of the new moon.
How are you, she asks. And Lilli, unable to find an answer, stands stunned, groping for reason in the empty night. There is nothing to explain how they have been reunited, save for the grace of fates and divine beings. ”I think I’m okay now,” she says, almost without thinking, admitting all and nothing in the same breath. ”Tell me everything,” she says, not missing a beat. ”How are you?”
@[Elaina]
Little girls cannot be without a mother.
If only it had been that simple.
When they had finally brought Elena into Murmuring Rivers with steady Marcelo leading the way, Lilli had stood back, peering at the palomino from beside her roaning older brother. She had expected someone so small and after everything she had been through, Lilli had thought to offer her comfort and friendship, shelter from the storm that had been raging. Instead, Elena had been so proud, a defiant tilt to her chin, in her bearing as if she was daring the fates to take something else from her. Lilli had been awed by her. She can remember her standing so still, her little form refusing to shake or give way to everything she had experienced – from the loss of her parents to the journey alone to Beyond. It was so much for one so small to endure and yet Elena had done it.
It had been the start of a relationship where Elena would persevere and Lilli would be inspired, taking courage from her cousin and trying to find her own brave way in the world.
Their relationship hadn’t been instantaneous, much to Lilli’s dismay. Elena had walls and barriers, as any one naturally would in the face of loss, that Lilli didn’t understand. It had taken what had felt like eons before Elena finally smiled at Lilli, finally acquiesced to a game of hide and seek and when she finally started offering her own secrets in response to Lilli’s own. It had been a shy, almost tentative bond at the start and as the months and years went by, as the experiences that would either define or break them happened, the bond became as unbreakable as steel, forged in the flame of time. When Frostbane had come to claim Elaina, Lilli was able to find her courage because her golden cousin was with her. When a new home would come and go, Lilli could adapt because Elena was always beside her. No matter how tumultuous the world might become, it was bearable because Elena was always there, always there with a ready grin and that daring spark in those amber eyes, ready to revive Lilli from whatever ills might have plagued her.
Lilli’s world was a much better place because Elena was in it.
Perhaps that has been the source of her problems now. So much has changed and Elena’s blazing courage, whatever little Lilli had kept with her, was almost ready to be extinguished. She is tired and alone, hurting and grieving and still dealing with all the emotions that come in the aftermath of situations that no one can find a reason for. Even though Lilli has been forging new relationships, trying to move forward and find a place for herself in Beqanna’s extensive lands, she has been learning that the past travels with you whether you exist in Culloden or the Falls or common lands here. She has been carrying this guilt, this grief and it has refused to lessen its grip on her no matter how hard she fights against it. The burden of it has been a heavy, exhausting burden and there has been no supporting shoulder for Lilli to lean on. There has been no flame to light her way.
It is the longing for her family that has driven her to Hyaline. She has it heard it rumored that Pangea is part of the old lands, an old haunt of that fearsome god Carnage. That alone should scare her enough to avoid it but Lilli finds a shred a hope, a small ribbon of it still dancing within her crimson chest that thinks if she can find a part of the Dale, of any of the places that her ancestors had called home, then she can find some kind of acceptance of everything that has happened. It’s an absurd and fantastical thing for her to cling to but cling to it she does.
In the emptiness of the night, Pangea and her new moon only prey on Lilli’s fears. The fear of the dark is something she has never outgrown, Frostbane and Underworld and all the other evils she has been afraid lurk in the shadows. Alone in these woods, the threat becomes as real to her as the day that they had found Frostbane smirking in the river, of Underworld creeping in the depth of shadows. And whats worse is that she doesn’t know Hyaline’s woods, isn’t familiar with any part of this land. It only emphasizes the panic and leaves her blind in the dark, fills her with the wild frenzy of fear.
In the recesses of her mind, on the edges where rational thinking and logic are so hard to find, she thinks that the scent of Elena is impossible. There is no way that her beloved cousin could be here. It’s a coping mechanism, that flight part of her wanting something so desperately that she can conjure the image of Elena and call her here. But somehow the apparition speaks and she is warm, solid beneath Lilli’s wanting touch. ”Elena," she says again though the words are strangled, are full of disbelief and longing and ache. She has missed the shock on Elena’s lovely face because her face is so quickly buried into her cousin's golden neck. It is solid and whole, as real as the night is terrifying to Lilliana. ”How are you real?” she whispers.
The warmth of Elena hits her like a summer storm. She is oh so wonderfully real beneath her touch. Lilli can feel the beating of her heart, can feel her chest rise and fall with the same frantic pace as her own. She doesn’t want to pull away from her cousin. There is a part of her that could stay there forever, feeling safe and complete for the first time in months. When she does find the strength to pull away and look at her cousin, shock and joy are mingled on every corner of Lilli’s face. Blue eyes find amber in the dark, finding wonder even in the cover of night. The questions build in her chest, build up with like a bubbling brook. ”What are you doing here?” she asks and almost immediately, Lilli wants to pull her cousin to her again. ”What are you doing in Pangea?” The thought seems ludicrous that all the places she would see Elena again would be here. And despite the night and its terrors, despite everything that Lilli has struggled against, the crimson girl smiles. ”It is so good to see you.” She tries to appraise Elena, her blue eyes seeking out Elena’s eagerly under the void of the new moon.
How are you, she asks. And Lilli, unable to find an answer, stands stunned, groping for reason in the empty night. There is nothing to explain how they have been reunited, save for the grace of fates and divine beings. ”I think I’m okay now,” she says, almost without thinking, admitting all and nothing in the same breath. ”Tell me everything,” she says, not missing a beat. ”How are you?”
@[Elaina]
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind